Gearing for washing-machines.



0. H. WATKINS. GEABING FOR WASHING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 30, 1906.

Patented May 17, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

0. H. WATKINS.

GEARING FOR WASHING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 30, 1906.

Patented May 17, 1910.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ORLA H. WATKINS, OF AMES, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TO GLOBE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PERRY, IOWA, A CORPORATION OF IOWA.

GEARING FOR WASHING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1'7, 1910.

Application filed November 30, 1906. Serial No. 345,713.

To all whom it may concern:

,lie it known that. I, ()nm ll. WA'rKiNs, an citizen of the United States, residing at Ames, in the county of Story and Statc'of Iowa, have lll\'(l\tt( a new and useful Gearing for iVashlug-Machines, of which the following is a s )ecifieatiou.

The invention relates to imln'ovements in gearing for washing machines.

lleretofore gearing for washing machines has been constructed embodying a lever, means connected with thelever for imparting an alternating rotary motion to an agitator, and means also connected with the lever for imparting a continuous rotary motion to a balance wheel. it has been found by experience that, as the gearing does not respond quickly to the efforts of the operator to oscillate the lever, the. tub or receptacle of the *ashing machine is frequently tilted in attempting to start the machine, and the latter is often moved out of position by such effort. Also considerable labor is involved in putting in motion a comparatively heavy balance wheel, especially when there is a considerable amountof clothes in the tub or receptacle. 1

The object of the present. invention is to improve the construction of such gearing and to dispense with the balance wheel heretofore employed, and to provide an automatically adjustable device to render the starting. stopping and operation of a washing machine uniform, easy and free from the resistance caused by the use of a heavy balance wheel, and which will automatically increase in etfect on the washing machine as the speed of the latter increases.

Vith these and other objects in View, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and ointed out in the claims hereto appendct it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of construction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departin from the s )irit. or sacrificing any of the a vantages o the invention.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional view of a washing machine,

.tion.

' rack bar 12.

tional view, taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Like numerals of reference. designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a washiin machine body or receptacle, provided witi suitable supporting legs 2 and having a hinged cover or lid 3, which is dctachably held in its closed position by a catch 4. The 'ashing' machine body or receptacle, in practice, will be provided with suitable rubbing surfaces, and the clothes are operated upon by a rubbing device or agitator 5, consisting of a disk or head and a plurality of depending pins 6. The shaft 7, which passes through the center of the rubbing device, is provided at its lower end with a head 8, forming a stop for limiting the downward movement of the said rubbing device, which is verticallv movable on the shaft 7 to accommodate itself to the quantity of clothes, or other fabrics being 'ashcd.

The shaft 7, which depends from the lid or cover of the washing machine body or receptacle is journaled in suitable bearings of a plate 9 and an arm 10, mounted on the plate and extending over the same, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. The upper portion of the shaft receives a spur pinion 11, located between the arm and the p ate 9 and meshing with a reciprocatory The rack bar slides in a suitable guide 13, located at one side of the )late 9 and consisting of a flange, substantial y L- shaped in cross section. One end of the rack bar is pivoted by a bolt 14, or other suitable fastening device to the inner end ofa link 15, which has its outer end pivoted between the inner ends of a pair of bars 16 and 17 by a bolt- 18. The outer ends of the bars 16 and 17 are pivoted by a bolt 1!), or other suitable fastoning device to an operating lever 20, and one of the bars passes through a guide 21, consisting of an upwardly projecting lug or portion having an opening to receive the, said bar 16, and formed integral with a plate or attachment portion 22. The plate or attachment portion 22 is mounted on a fixed section 23 of the top of the washing machine body or receptacle, and the guide serves to steady the lever in its oscillation. The link connections between the operating lever and the rack bar enable the latter to remain permanently in mesh with the pinion and permit the lid or cover of the washing machine body to be readily opened and closed in any osition of the operating lever and without disconnecting the parts. The lid or cover 3 is connected by hinges 24 to the fixed section 23, as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The operating lever, which 15 ar ranged in an upright posltlon, 1s fulcrumed at an intermediate point on an arm 25 of a bracket .or plate, and its lower arm is connected by a rod 26 with a wrist pin 27 of a gear wheel 28. The gear wheel 28 is mount.- ed on a stub shaft 29 of a plate or bracket 30, which is secured to the lower face of the bottom of the washing machine body or receptacle, and which is provided with a suitable bearing for the upper end of a lower centrally arranged vertical shaft 31. The connecting rod 26 has a laterally off-set or bent portion 32, which clears the central shaft, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawings. A coiled spring 33 is connected at its inner end with the olf-set portion of the rod 26 by a screw 34, or other suitable fastening device, and its outer end is connected with the bottom of the washing machine body or receptacle near the periphery thereof by a suitable fastening device 35. The spring operates to hold the eccentrically arranged wrist pin of]? the dead center, or out of alinement with the stub shaft and the vertical shaft, so that the mechanism will always be in position for operation by the lever 20.

The upper end of the lower shaft 31 carries a pinion 36, which meshes with the gear wheel 28, whereby rotary motion is communicated to the vertical shaft, when the gear 28 is rotated. The lower end 37 of the vertical shaft 31 is tapered and is supported by anti-friction balls 38, which are arranged within a bearing 39. The bearing 39 consists of a plate having a socket in its upper face and secured by bolts or other suitable fastening devices to the upper face of a horizontal cross bar 40, which is connected at its ends with the supporting legs 2 of the washing machine body or receptacle. The outer terminal portions of the bar 40 are supported by braces 41, which extend upwardly and outwardly from the said bar 40 to the legs to which the ends of the bar 40 are connected.

The operating lever is provided at its uper end with a suitable grip or handle, and is oscillated to operate the washing machine. The washing machine may also be operated by a suitable power, and for this purpose the shaft 31 is provided at its upper end with a grooved pulley 42, adapted to receive a suitable belt, which is guided by upper and lower fpulleys 43, located at the outer portion 0 the washing machine.

In order to render the operation of the washing machine uniform and to increase The weighted arms 44 are pivoted at their upper ends by pins 45, or other suitable fastening devices between ears 46 of a collar or head 47, which is suitably secured to the shaft 31 at the upper portion thereof. \Veights 48 are suitably mounted on the lower portions of the arms 44, and as the speed of the lower vertical shaft 31 increases, the weighted arms are thrown outwardly by centrifugal force and the adjustable device increases in effect with the speed of the machine. When themachine is stationary, the weights are arranged close to the shaft 31 at the center of the machine, and do not materially interfere with the starting of the machine, as is the case, when a heavy balance wheel is employed. The weighted arms may be arranged in any other preferred manner, and a yieldable buffer, preferably consisting of a rubber bumper 49 is mounted on the lower portion of the shaft to receive the weights to prevent noise. The rubber bumper, which is arranged horizontally, is provided with concave recesses 50 to receive the weights, which are preferably in the form of balls.

In the present case I make no claim for the momentum device per se, and by momentum device I refer to the pivoted arms 44 equipped with weights and adapted to be thrown outward by centrifugal force.

Havin thus fully described my invention, what I c aim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a lower vertical rotary shaft, and means for mounting the same, of weighted arms pivotally connected to the shaft and dependmg in substantially a per endicul'ar position at opposite sides of the s aft, an operating lever, an upper reversely rotated shaft, means for communicating motion from the lever to the upper shaft, and means for communicatin motion from the lever to the lower rotary shaft, the

' weighted arms on the said lower shaft moving upward as the speed of the shaft increases.

2. The combination of a reversely rotated shaft, a gear mounted thereon, a rack bar meshing with the gear, an operating lever, a link pivotedto the rack bar, and a connecting bar extending from the lever to the link and provided at the outer end of the latter shaft, a gear mounted thereon, a rack bar @EEABQ meshing with the gear, an operating lever, a link pivoted to the rack bar, and a pair of connecting bars extendin from the lever to the link and provided at 51c outer end of the latter with a pintle piercing the said link and forming a hinge connection, to enable the shaft, the gearing and the link to swing upward and downward in any position of the operatin 1 lever without disconnecting the parts an to permit the rack bar to remain permanently in mesh with the gear,

and means for holding the connecting hars against upward movement when the machine is in operation.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as m own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

- URLA H. WATKINS.

Witnesses C. G. LEE, A. A. MCLAUGHLIN. 

